Lions Release Three Players Including LB Steve Longa

The Detroit Lions announced Wednesday they have released LB Steve Longa, TE Paul Butler and WR Jonathan Duhart.

The Lions announced today that they have released TE Paul Butler, WR Jonathan Duhart and LB Steve Longa.

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) April 15, 2020

Longa, 25, wound up signing on with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent out of Rutgers back in 2016. He lasted just a few months in Seattle before he was waived and later signed to the Lions’ practice squad.

Longa bounced on and off of the Lions’ taxi squad in 2017 before returning to Detroit on a futures contract. Unfortunately, he was placed on injured reserve during the preseason and later released. Detroit re-signed Longa to their practice squad soon after. 

Longa started the 2019 season on Detroit’s PUP list and was eventually activated. 

In 2019, Longa appeared in 10 games for the Lions and recorded 12 tackles.

Butler, 26, wound up signing on with the Raiders as an undrafted free agent out of California (PA) back in May of 2018. He was waived coming out of the preseason and later re-signed to the Raiders’ practice squad.

Oakland eventually promoted Butler to their active roster in December. However, he was waived with an injury designation and later released with a settlement from IR. 

Butler returned to the Raiders practice squad but was signed to the Lions’ active roster. Butler signed a futures deal with Detroit for 2020. 

Butler has yet to appear in an NFL game.